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Chapter 5/6 MI and Chapter 6/7 UbD/DI Abstract
From these four chapters, we gained a lot of valuable knowledge to use in the classroom. Starting off, there is a discussion about bringing in multiple intelligences into the classroom. Not only bringing them in, but using all of them and developing all of them and not just using students strengths. Only focusing on strengths will cripple students later on in life. Leaving intelligences undeveloped is something that should never happen. Developing all the intelligences will make every class a unique and educational experience for all students. Also, there are many great examples of different activities to use that involves all intelligences that should be referred back to in times of need.
Three different ways of teaching are didactic, facilitative, and coaching. Demonstrating, interactions with students, and giving good feedback are important methods of teaching. As students, we feel that using these three ways of teaching will help ensure that students have a full understand of content. Also, know who you are teaching. Evaluate what type of students you are teaching so you can properly plan deviations of your lesson plans. Teaching the basics can be boring, but the basics of a subject are vital to learn so teach them in meaningful ways. Make things interesting for your students. Being clear about "big ideas" and expectations can help students greatly succeed in the classroom. Also, actually teach the content in a way that students aren't just memorizing facts for a test for a day and be done with it. A method suggested is using WHERETO to relate content. This involves the What, Why, Hook, Equip, Experiences, Rethink, Evaluation, Tailor, and Organize. This leaves no doubt in the students minds the importance of what they are learning and why they are learning it.
Chapter 5/6 MI and Chapter 6/7 UbD/DI Synthesis
In these chapters we as a class seem to agree that the information provided will be very useful in our future classrooms. The chapters together give you examples on how to write a lesson based upon the multiple intelligences, giving us a list of different methods teachers could use to teach the 8 different learning types. The author also gave in-depth ways of targeting the 8 different learning types (examples). Which will be very helpful when we are planning our lessons. Tess brings up a good point she states "One point I found beneficial was to think of planning interdisciplinary themes. This will help connect different subjects, which in reality is the real world.“ (Tess) This as teacher is something we should be striving for on a daily basis. Although this is going to be very challenging because like most of us we "have a tendency to stick with methods that are comfortable to [us]" (Caroline), instead of thinking of our students needs. "As teachers we have responsibility to engage our students so that they don't get "stuck in their remedial, easy, skimming surface projects and worksheets so they can master the opening information [and] they will never see just how interest and complex a subject could be.” ( Molly)
Tori Penney
Chapter 6 of UbD is all about how a teacher can diversify their methods through multiple ways. For instance, there are three different ways to teach, didactic, facilitative, and coaching. Didactic is when a teacher gives a lecture of demonstrates something for the students, and in my opinion happens way too often, even in classes where professors and teachers try to diversify their methods. Facilitative is when the teacher and the students interact with each other, such as during simulations, or discussions. And coaching is when the teacher is giving the student feedback and practice. I feel like coaching and didactic teaching strategies are the most used, but that facilitative are usually the most beneficial, and therefore should be used more often. Another way to diversify methods is by using the classroom itself to change how you teach your students. On page 91, the example of creating a "quiet zone," in the classroom is given; I have a hard time reading when people are making noise because I am an auditory learner and when people begin to talk I feel like I need to hear them, and so a quiet zone within my classrooms would of been very beneficial. I recall in elementary school my 4-6 grade teacher had a section of the classroom that consisted of pillows, couches, and bean bag chairs where we would do our reading and our spelling tests. It was very comfortable, and moving to a new place in the room gave us a fresh experience and some fresh air. Yet, that classroom was giant and I will probably not have the opportunity to have a whole section of my room for a comfortable living space.
Chapter 7 focuses a lot on how to use the six facets within the classroom to make sure that students truly understand the content. Understanding is a lot more than memorizing facts, it requires critical thought and the ability to pick it apart and see how it is relevant. In order to encourage this critical thinking we are encouraged to ask big and broad questions that have open endings, that way our students must consider other options and ideas in order to come to a conclusion. This will also cause them to compare it to what is happening in the world or what has happened in the past, as well as their own life.
In MI Theory and Curriculum Development’s Chapter 7, the main focus is on how the MI theory is and can be reflected within curriculum. Students feel like they are having fun if they are learning through their main intelligence, and so the student absorbs more and focuses more. This is very important because it seems we are too busy drilling them so that they can pass standardized tests and not so that they can master the content. Teachers are still too busy talking at students and not with them, and are too busy teaching them in a didactic way instead of a facilitative way, as a true MI teacher would.
Chapter 6 of MI focuses on how the MI theory is and can be reflected within the teaching strategies. This is quite obvious, since if a teacher supports the MI theory it will reflect in the way they teach their class. They will stray away from the typical teacher talk and lecture style and focus on innovative and creative ways to meet the learners needs. This chapter gives multiple examples of ways to cater to the needs of each intelligence, such as story telling for linguistic learners, calculations for logical-mathematical learners, visualization for the spatial learner, etc.
Sean Falasca
In these four chapters the topic of discussion is on multiple intelligences and how to apply them in the classroom strategically like what an MI te acher room would appear to be. Everyone has the ability to be good at all intelligences so a good teacher will teach all of the intelligences and not just to the ones that are the students strengths. Ironically enough, we used Inspiration in Dr. Overall’s class today and in chapter 5 of MI it uses webs as an example of an activity to use to better organize and brainstorm ones thoughts. Chapter 6 of MI discusses how a teacher can involve all facets of the MI Theory through many different examples. I think it is very important to teach all the intelligences. If a teacher just teaches to the strengths then I believe that would cripple a student in the long run. Having the ability to tap into all eight intelligences will greatly benefit all who are taught that way. Chapter 6 of UbD/DI starts out well by making you analyze your class as a whole and ask four important questions. Who are the students I will teach? What matters most for students to learn here? How must I teach to ensure that each student will grow systemically toward attainment of the goal and moves beyond it when indicated? How will I know who is successful and who is not yet successful with particular goals (84)? I really like the last question because of the “yet” portion. It implies that a student can always be taught and to never give up. Sometimes you need to run through the questions until you can fix the problem. When you teach basic concepts, teach them in a meaningful and useful context so students don’t discard it as useless. Also, be clear of the “big ideas” and goals hey will have accomplished by the end of the unit. If they know what’s expected of them then they will be able to perform better. Although students must build meaning on their own to properly master material, sometimes as a noted cognitive scientist points out “ There are times, usually after people have first grappled with issues on their own, that “teaching by telling” might work extremely well” (86). Also, I like the idea presented by Mortimer Adler in his book The Paideia Proposal that three rolls teachers can play are direct instructor, facilitator, and coach. Chapter 7 of UbD/DI introduces WHERETO as the big concept of the chapter. In schools there can be a lack of depth in content. I know when I was a student I often learned by memorizing facts for a test date. That is not a successful style of teaching. Students will forget within days, sometimes hours what the crammed into their heads just for a test or quiz. This acronym WHERETO stands for What, Why, Hook, Equip, Experiences, Rethink, Evaluation, Tailor, and Organize. It reveals content. Engage students in deep content and make it meaningful and useful to them while differentiating for those who need it. Also, make all the goals, expectations, and ideas very clear to students.
Garrett Hodgkins
The two chapters in MI focus on a MI teacher, as well as MI theory and teaching strategies that exhibit its use. It goes into what exactly a MI teacher’s classroom would look like, as well as some of the strategies that the MI teacher would use. It also discusses some different work-activites to make a classroom MI friendly as well as lesson plans that are MI friendly. It also talks about the importance of combining MI theory with thematic instruction. The book says “themes cut through traditional curricular boundaries, eave together subjects and skills that are found naturally in life and provide students with opportunities to use their multiple intelligences in practical ways” (67).
In UBD and DI the two chapters focus on a differentiated curriculum as well as how to teach in an academically diverse classroom. Firstly, it talks about teaching students fundamentals and making sure they reach the “big ideas” of each unit. All of the content isn’t as important as them drawing the fundamentals and finding the big idea. The second chapter focuses once again on how to work with a diverse classroom, and different strategies that may be used to make that sort of classroom click. It talks of the importance of using essential questions, as well as giving examples in each multiple intelligence of what essential questions would be. It also discusses the importance of doing a sort of “anticipatory” style of planning. As in planning your lesson plans to the common trends of students you have seen in past classrooms in order to hopefully fit your new classroom to meet the needs of many students. This gets rid of some of the pressure to immediately know all of your students and their needs, as it may cover some of theirs already. Finally it goes into talking of the stage 3 WHERETO method. The WHERETO method is a series of questions that are designed to make the teacher think from the perspective of the learner, which is important because that should be the center of the lesson plan/
Through these chapters I have learned a few good strategies and ideas for lesson plans that I could use in my future classroom. Along with those, I have also learned how to phrase questions to appeal to students specific multiple intelligences, as well as the importance of making sure that each student gains an understanding for “the big idea” even if they cannot grasp all of the content in the unit. I particularly enjoyed a specific piece that compared teachers to musicians, it read “ that teacher is always aware of the melody - the curriculum goals- but finds many different ways to the melody” (89). A teacher needs to have different routes to reach the same goal, because not at all students can follow a singular path, some may need different tools than others. These are some of the ideas I would like to apply in my future ( hopefully universally designed and differentiated) classroom.
Kiera Timme
After reading chapters 6 & 7 of Understanding by Design, and chapters 5 & 6 of Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom, a common theme began to emerge: designing curriculum, and instructional strategies, that meet the needs of a diverse group of learners. All four chapters provide helpful advice for teachers on how to meet a variety learner needs.
Chapter 6 of UbD emphasizes the need for teachers to be responsive to student needs, and to incorporate flexibility into their classroom as a means of supporting student success. While, chapter 7 of UbD, focuses on the need for educators to move beyond superficial learning and push for deeper understanding of content. The UbD authors suggest teachers make use of a set of guidelines “embedded in the acronym WHERETO” (Tomlinson & McTighe, p120) as an aid to help plan for learning. The W stands for what and why, for example: “How will I help learners know what they will be learning? Why this is worth learning?” (Tomlinson & McTighe, p121). The H stands for hook, for example: “How will I hook and engage learners?” (Tomlinson & McTighe, p122). The E stands for equip and experiences, the R stands for rethink, revision and refinement, the second E stands for evaluation, particularly student self-evaluation, the T stands for tailor, and finally, the O stands for organized, referring to the way the lesson or unit is organized to best serve the students and the content. The “WHERETO” acronym really appeals to my clipboard learning style. It is often easy to feel overwhelmed by the huge responsibilities of being a teacher (and a pre-service teacher), so having a strategic process that I can follow when designing a lesson or unit, is not only helpful, it is also calming.
Chapter 5 of MI provides helpful curriculum building strategies to enable teachers to expand their instructional techniques beyond the traditional “linguistic and logical” (Armstrong, p64) teaching approach. Armstrong suggests a “seven-step procedure” (Armstrong, p64) as a guide to help teachers design, and implement, a MI incorporated lesson. Chapter 6 of MI picks up where chapter 5 leaves off by describing a plethora of examples of instructional approaches for each of the eight multiple intelligences. While all the examples where helpful, it was the section about naturalistic intelligence that I found the most enlightening. Being born and raised in a city makes it difficult for me to relate to this intelligence. While I do enjoy the outdoors, this doesn’t provide the insights I need as a teacher that this particular section does. Before reading this the most I could have come up with would be to take the class outside while doing the lesson. The “Eco-study” suggestion stood out for me as I am doing my performance task on endangered species. I had not realized, until reading this, I would be engaging my naturalistic students. Knowing this really make me feel like I am making progress.
Tess Perry
Chapter 6 and 7 of the UbD/DI book and chapters 5 and 6 of the MI book provide examples, strategies, methods and materials for teaching to a classroom of diverse learners. MI theory should be included in the planning process and in the implementation of curriculum. The specific focus of each chapter is described below. As I have gained new knowledge of many teaching strategies, I will hopefully apply many into my future classroom. Chapter 6 of the UbD book combines both responsive teaching, observing, checking and reflecting on student’s progress and altering plans as needed and understanding by design. If the teacher plans with the knowledge that her classroom will be diverse differentiated instruction can be built into the lesson plans. Curriculum should compel students to make meaning and think deeper, they should learn the basics and look for real world application. Informing students of unit goals and the expectations to show mastery is a concept I plan on using in my classroom. I think that by clearly explaining expectations students will know what is coming and why I am teaching them certain aspects, I can relate content back to end goals, which will also help keep me accountable and focused. To ensure student understanding in a classroom full of multiple intelligences focus on the essential questions, utilizing the 6 facets of understanding and using the WHERETO framework. Chapter 7 addresses this concept. WHERETO is an acronym for what are we learning? Why is it important? Hooking student’s interest and attention? Equipping students with necessary materials and what experiences will help demonstrate concepts? Students will need to rethink, revise and refine prior learning and their current projects. Students must use self-evaluation to reflect upon what they have learned. They teacher must tailor lessons to the diverse students. Staying organized to make the most of all experiences in the classroom. The WHERETO model will be useful in guiding lesson planning and implementation. In order to meet the needs of all students in a classroom MI theory should be included in the thought process while developing the curriculum. Chapter 5 of the MI book provides an abundance of methods and materials that can be used to teach to all 8 intelligences. One point I found beneficial was to think of planning interdisciplinary themes. This would help connect different subjects, which is a reality in the real world. This would also help students find applications and make meaning from lessons. Different teaching methods and strategies can be categorized into the different MIs. Implementing these strategies will help students develop other intelligences as well as engage them if they are more inclined towards one or a few MIs. Chapter 6 of the MI book provided 5 examples of instruction methods for each of the 8 MIs. This will be a valuable resource as I begin planning multiple lessons and am in need of fresh ideas. Making sure I plan lessons geared towards all MIs not just the few that I have a tendency towards, will improve my teaching skills and hopefully benefit all students in the classes.
Jon Delorme
Chapters 6, 7 (UbD/DI) Chapters 5, 6 (MI)
The key for all teachers, and the focus of Chapters 5 and 6 of Multiple Intelligences, is to “translate the material to be taught from one intelligence to another (64).” To do this a teacher must plan out how one concept can be transformed multiple times for the different students in their class. There are many ways, some traditional and some innovative, in awaking the areas of the brain that have been left dormant for so long. In Chapter 5 Thomas Armstrong lists many techniques and activities teachers can use to translate material from one intelligence to another. Chapter 6 expands on some of these to give the reader more specific examples.
Chapter 6 of Understanding by Design by Carol Ann Tomlinson and Jay McTighe focuses on how a teacher can be responsive to their students in a differentiated classroom. Just like a teacher must be responsive to children’s different learning styles, teachers must also know when to differentiate. Chapter 7 of UbD concerns how to uncover the content. It has become too true that school curriculum has become a mile wide but only an inch thick. This does not lead much opportunity for student contemplation and discussion, but rather just the memorizing facts. To get into the material more the chapter suggests implementing the WHERETO framework. This process is set in the order of What, Why, Hook, Equip, Experiences, Rethink, Evaluation, Tailor, and Organize.
The challenge for me as a teacher is to find creative ways to engage all eight intelligences in my classroom. The Social Studies naturally appeals a lot to linguistic learners due to the material. I have been wondering a lot lately how historical information could be presented to a logical-mathematical, musical, or naturalist person. Some ideas presented in the book that I really like are activities such as Pictionary (Spatial), charades (Bodily-Kinesthetic), and peer sharing (Interpersonal). For my three challenge areas I like nature walks (Naturalist), mood music (musical), and Socratic questioning (logical-mathematical). Socratic questioning is something I am already familiar with because it the philosophy of Supplemental Instruction and I use it often in my Statistics class.
One core belief about curriculum that I totally agree with is that “students need opportunities to learn the ‘basics’ and opportunities to apply them in meaningful ways (85).” This quote from Understanding by Design uses an analogy of a coach and players to drive home the point. Too many “sideline drills” and not enough playing the “real game” is a strategy made for failure. That is why I think a project-based unit is a great idea. It limits the amount of worksheet-type learning and makes students apply their knowledge to real life applications. This in turn makes the class more engaging and allows room to appeal to the different intelligences. Along with using the WHERETO model I know I can become a successful teacher and truly engage my students.
Kaitlyn Bowie
Chapter six in Understanding by Design focused on how teachers can integrate backward design and instructional decision making to has to have the foundations for differentiated learning already set, should their need arise. Teachers need to constantly be inclusive to all levels of knowledge in their classroom, and failure to do so will result in certain students being stuck in a separate curriculum of routine practice. Meanwhile, while everyone else in the class in moving forward, that one group of students stays in the same academic place and has no opportunity to build upon themselves. At the same time, a teacher does not need to specifically cater to every specific need a student might have. They only need to be willing to adapt themselves and their lessons accordingly. I can see myself designing lesson plans that are, in some ways, open ended and flexible for the sake of any necessary adaptation. I have no idea what my classroom will be like, and coming up with dozens of alternative lessons a day is simply ridiculous.
Chapter seven focused deeper into the actual lesson, in talking about delving into content as opposed to just skimming over it. By skimming content you only encourage memorization that students will allow themselves to forget once they have left the class. These students do not actually understand the content, because there is no stimulation of deep thought or opinion that forces their brains to truly start understanding the topic. One of the best ways of stimulating understanding thinking is by presenting students will open-ended, thought provoking questions about the topic. By making personal connections and brainstorming thoughts about the topic, the students are not just being spoon-fed information they are digesting it. This is the kind of thought I would want to encourage in my classroom, because any level of understanding can be involved in a class or group discussion. No matter how much or how little a student might come into a subject with, the discussion allows them to pool thoughts and learn from one another before the lesson even begins.
Chapter five of Multiple Intelligences focuses on using MI theory in developing effective class curriculums and lessons. The benefit of MI theory in curriculums is that it encourages teachers to expand upon their methods in ways that will help to engage students and appeal to their strongest form of intelligence. Such practices can be as simple as teacher moving around the class as they teach to the lesson, to incorporating music and hands on projects. There is no one solution for implementing the MI theory, and that is perhaps its greatest strength. No matter the subject or grade level, it can be implicated for the benefit of the students. It makes me feel much more confident about implementing MI techniques in my classroom, because there is no set way I have to do it. I can be as creative as my classroom allows, so long as I am able to help my students.
Chapter six focused more on the specific ways in which a teacher could incorporate the different intelligences into their lessons with examples corresponds to each intelligence category. I will definitely be returning to this chapter in both short-term and long-term instances. These examples will prove very helpful with further designing for my lesson plans, and even after I have become an established teacher. After all, a good teacher is one who is continually mixing, changing, and adding things to their curriculum.
Molly Olsen
Chapter 6 of UbD discussed responsive teaching in academically diverse classrooms. A list of core beliefs about curriculum and diverse student populations stresses that students need opportunity to learn and apply the "basics" of a subject, they should consistently experience curricula that causes them to think at high levels and make meaning of information, students need to know and understand the learning goals of a unit or lesson, and students should be given a balance between student construction and teacher guidance. One of the final things this chapter stresses is to not repeat what we may have seen in past classrooms, just because your teacher from fifth grade did something, does not mean it was necessarily the "right" way to do it. We are more likely to repeat the making of less-flexible learning environments if we were taught in one. I'm lucky in that I've always been in pretty flexible learning environments, which I plan to mirror in my own classroom.
Some of the most important points from UbD chapter 7 included a reminder that the "ladder" model is flawed. Just because you have a student who hasn't mastered the beginning parts of a concept doesn't mean that you shouldn't at least introduce them to, or even just let them know that of the existence of larger concepts. If a student is forever stuck in the remedial, easy, skimming surface projects and worksheets so they can master the opening information, they will never see just how interesting and complex a subject can be.
Another idea this chapter discussed was bringing up lots of questions to keep conversations about subjects going and interesting. It keeps kids thinking. This idea is at the roots of Socratic Seminars, which is a kind of instruction I would like to use with my students.
The 5th chapter of MI discussed multiple ways to bring MI into the classroom and cater to all intelligences. One of the things it talked about was that a good MI teacher will help students use all of their intelligences, not strictly the ones they're "best" at— the teacher accomplishes this by switching between intelligence-based instructions throughout the lesson by simply moving differently, writing on the board, playing a video, and having the students move or manipulate something with their own hands. It's all part of the same lesson, just different facets. I think MI can sound daunting, but if I look at it as just differentiating and not doing the same thing over and over again, then I think it will be easier for me to teach in this style in the future.
Chapter 6 of MI suggests that linguistic intelligence is the easiest intelligence to bring into the classroom, as it's always been such a staple in schools. Despite it being easiest, the chapter gives it the same four examples of use in the classroom as the other eight intelligences. The book points out when a program or project hits multiple intelligences as well. Though I think it may take a bit more time set aside for planning, I want to try to hit multiple intelligences with single activities whenever possible.
Amy Jones
In all 4 chapters the main idea the authors were trying to portray was different tools for teaching and doing it well. In chapter 6 of UbD/ DI the author has the idea that teacher play into three key roles that must incorporate in the classroom. According to Mortimer Adler, in his book The Paideia Proposal, teachers as take on the following roles:
Didactic actors or direct instructors
Facilitators
Coaches.
This is where I think that teaching is my calling; because I have also been a coach and been a “facilitator” for a program, but then again learning all about the multiple intelligences gets me nervous about me not being able to reach every student’s needs. WHERETO model was introduced and is designed to relate topics or “[pull] it all together.” This model also talks to us about the preparation and planning that is needed before teaching and how important that it for our major curriculum. Also in chapter 7of UbD/DI I learned about the importance of asking well-aimed, open-ended questions. Essential questions lead students to use what knowledge they know and their ability for logical processing to come to their own conclusions. In chapter 5 of Multiple Intelligences, it gave us an idea to write a lesson based upon the multiple intelligences. They gave a list of different methods teachers could use to teach the 8 different learning types. It was broad, yet specific enough to help any teacher target a lesson to one type of learner. In helping us with how to write a lesson plan, the authors gave the readers examples different tools you can use: one of them being webs; these help you plan activities. I liked the idea of the webs and feel like I could incorporate them into one of my lessons for the students to use; I feel like it would work really well with writing papers, brainstorming with the class and when studying for exams. In Chapter 6 of Multiple Intelligences, the author gave in-depth ways of targeting the 8 different learning types(examples). The activities that really caught my attention were ones of bodily-kinesthetic learners because I wish some of my teachers would have done that for me so I would feel smarter. Also it gave me ideas to teach to learners that are not the same “intelligence” as me.
Caroline Murphy
All four chapters discuss ways to adapt teaching styles to suit the very diverse needs of students and to integrate Multiple Intelligence theory and differentiated instruction into the classroom. They give an optimistic picture of how multiple intelligences are being incorporated into modern classrooms, saying that much of the strategies we can use to embrace multiple intelligences in the classroom are already being done by good teachers. Good teachers know how to organically adapt their methods to suit the needs of their students and how to go beyond lectures and quantitative tests. Multiple Intelligence theory talks about taking this further and translating the same material into practical, hands-on methods that allow for engaged and meaningful learning for all students regardless of what their learning style might be. MI theory and differentiated instruction are about communication between the student and the teacher, as well as between the student and the classroom content. When one method of communication does not adequately reach the student, another method must be used to ensure that all students understand the fundamentals and essential questions of the curriculum. The books specify that MI theory and differentiated instruction are about substituting ineffective methods for more beneficial ones, instead of adding on unnecessary pedagogy that does not have practical purposes. As a whole, MI theory and differentiated instruction are about teachers being flexible with their methods and being open to adapting their instruction to allow students with many different learning styles the opportunity to learn from the same curriculum.
The information in these four chapters is all very relevant to my future as a teacher. I think one of my biggest challenges as a teacher will be adapting my instruction to suit the needs of all my students, because I have a tendency to stick with methods that are comfortable to me. I also get frustrated when those methods don’t work, and blame myself and think that I failed. But because I have a natural inclination towards orderly, linear lessons that are based in language and writing skills, I will need to work hard to make things that are just the opposite sometimes. English in particular is a subject that is easy to use the same static methods for, but that is even more reason for teachers to come up with new ways of teaching it. I like what the MI book had to say about teachers inherently doing a lot of the adapting necessary to make that theory work. That makes me feel like I really do have what it takes to be an effective teacher for different learning styles, and I think that kind of optimism is exactly what the education system needs. One of the books said that, in order for MI theory and differentiated instruction to work, teachers have to see themselves as capable of adapting and modifying their lessons, and having confidence in both their abilities as teachers and the capability of their students to perform to high standards. This positive approach to diversity in the classroom is exactly what needs to happen in order for education to progress.
Alison Hutchins
Chapter five of Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom focuses on utilizing your knowledge to bring as many multiple intelligences as possible into your lesson plans, as effectively as possible. Something that it definitely stressed was helping students develop all of their multiple intelligence abilities, not just there strengths. This will help them grow as learners, and switching back and forth to accommodate this will help you grow as an educator. A really good lesson that has the ability to reach any student is able to access any of the eight intelligences necessary, and allow the teacher to interchange them as needed. It also begins to talk about different ways that a teacher can create lessons and entire curriculums that will truly access and develop all of these skills. Chapter six of Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom dives more deeply into planning these lessons and curriculums, giving more specific ways to incorporate all of the learning styles.
Chapter 6 of Understanding By Design and Differentiated Instruction also draws upon the theme of teaching a classroom of diversified learners. It focuses a lot on teachers being aware of and responsive to the learning needs of their students, watching their progress closely throughout the unit. Also how important it is for educators to be flexible and do whatever they can to accommodate the learning needs of the entire class. Chapter 7 talked much more in depth about the actual learning of the students. It discusses how, regardless of the diversified learning styles, each student should be focused on one connecting essential question, or "big idea." Having this really guides a student's learning regardless of how they learn. It also talks about really getting students to understand the content, this has to happen as opposed to just skimming information if you want students to actually internalize the information, rather than just testing then immediately forgetting it.
All of this information is really interesting because it gives me some really valid answers to certain questions, some of which I was not aware that I had, but it also raises some anxieties. I worry about not being able to see when a student is in need academically (or otherwise, honestly), and missing my chance to really get them to understand material that may be giving them trouble, and could continue to do so in the future. The suggestions for avoiding that, particularly in Understanding By Design and Differentiated Instruction chapter seven, did help to stave off some of that worry, however. The Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom chapters were also really interesting, as it gave some great ways to incorporate all of the learning styles into the curriculum. I also loved that it talked about helping students develop their skills, instead of just helping them play to their strengths, because this is something that I would love to be able to successfully do in my classroom. All in all, I learned a lot in these chapters that I feel excited to try in my own classroom at some point to help students with any learning need to feel comfortable and confident in my classroom and with my content.
Frank Makuch
What I got out of these chapters is that it really may be impossible to force someone to learn something. The job of a teacher should not be to force someone to learn something. Teaching practices are only effective when they allow the student to do the work. And to let the student do the work, you have to make the student want to do the work. If a teacher just stands up and lectures all day, he really doesn’t know how his students are doing. Most of them probably won’t like the way that he teaches because he has chosen to do the same thing day after day. Even if the student likes learning from lecture, she probably won’t like it after so much repetition. Therefore differentiation is not only important for reaching students with multiple intelligences, it is also important in teaching students who may have the same intelligence. In addition, the chapters offered lots of practical advice for teachers trying to differentiate instruction. MI chapter 6 offers different strategies for dealing with different intelligences. Some of these seem practical and relatable to all topics but others are not. Among these are the strategies for musical or naturalist intelligences. I could not see myself implementing most of these strategies because they are just too far out there. Also, I feel that a nature walk may be calming for some, but it could have an opposite effect on other students. The same goes for music. Personally, I enjoy music very much, but when I’m working, the music is too distracting. For people with poor multitasking skills like mine, music easily becomes a distraction. I think that if we as teachers are trying to promote learning, some of these strategies might be counterproductive. Another interesting point in UBD chapter 7 was about teaching through essential questions. The point here is to allow the student to find out for himself what he believes. This way, he is more likely to remember what he learned because as far as he knows, he’s the one that figured it out! Another idea was the metaphor of the ladder for learning. The authors believe this to be a flawed metaphor. They believe that learning does not have to be a linear process, and does not have to be the same process for everyone. A student may be able to learn more complex curriculum even if he has not learned the fundamentals. For example, a student who cannot read or write may still be extremely smart when it comes to logic problems. Students who do not have some skills can still understand big picture things. As a teacher I will try to cater towards as many intelligences that I can, but will stop when I feel that my teaching has been compromised. I will know when or if my teaching has been compromised by using formative assessments. Students should have knowledge uncovered for them, and they should decide how to piece it together. This is how the most learning will happen.
Table of Contents
Chapter 5/6 MI and Chapter 6/7 UbD/DI Abstract
From these four chapters, we gained a lot of valuable knowledge to use in the classroom. Starting off, there is a discussion about bringing in multiple intelligences into the classroom. Not only bringing them in, but using all of them and developing all of them and not just using students strengths. Only focusing on strengths will cripple students later on in life. Leaving intelligences undeveloped is something that should never happen. Developing all the intelligences will make every class a unique and educational experience for all students. Also, there are many great examples of different activities to use that involves all intelligences that should be referred back to in times of need.
Three different ways of teaching are didactic, facilitative, and coaching. Demonstrating, interactions with students, and giving good feedback are important methods of teaching. As students, we feel that using these three ways of teaching will help ensure that students have a full understand of content. Also, know who you are teaching. Evaluate what type of students you are teaching so you can properly plan deviations of your lesson plans. Teaching the basics can be boring, but the basics of a subject are vital to learn so teach them in meaningful ways. Make things interesting for your students. Being clear about "big ideas" and expectations can help students greatly succeed in the classroom. Also, actually teach the content in a way that students aren't just memorizing facts for a test for a day and be done with it. A method suggested is using WHERETO to relate content. This involves the What, Why, Hook, Equip, Experiences, Rethink, Evaluation, Tailor, and Organize. This leaves no doubt in the students minds the importance of what they are learning and why they are learning it.
Chapter 5/6 MI and Chapter 6/7 UbD/DI Synthesis
In these chapters we as a class seem to agree that the information provided will be very useful in our future classrooms. The chapters together give you examples on how to write a lesson based upon the multiple intelligences, giving us a list of different methods teachers could use to teach the 8 different learning types. The author also gave in-depth ways of targeting the 8 different learning types (examples). Which will be very helpful when we are planning our lessons. Tess brings up a good point she states "One point I found beneficial was to think of planning interdisciplinary themes. This will help connect different subjects, which in reality is the real world.“ (Tess) This as teacher is something we should be striving for on a daily basis. Although this is going to be very challenging because like most of us we "have a tendency to stick with methods that are comfortable to [us]" (Caroline), instead of thinking of our students needs. "As teachers we have responsibility to engage our students so that they don't get "stuck in their remedial, easy, skimming surface projects and worksheets so they can master the opening information [and] they will never see just how interest and complex a subject could be.” ( Molly)
Tori Penney
Chapter 6 of UbD is all about how a teacher can diversify their methods through multiple ways. For instance, there are three different ways to teach, didactic, facilitative, and coaching. Didactic is when a teacher gives a lecture of demonstrates something for the students, and in my opinion happens way too often, even in classes where professors and teachers try to diversify their methods. Facilitative is when the teacher and the students interact with each other, such as during simulations, or discussions. And coaching is when the teacher is giving the student feedback and practice. I feel like coaching and didactic teaching strategies are the most used, but that facilitative are usually the most beneficial, and therefore should be used more often. Another way to diversify methods is by using the classroom itself to change how you teach your students. On page 91, the example of creating a "quiet zone," in the classroom is given; I have a hard time reading when people are making noise because I am an auditory learner and when people begin to talk I feel like I need to hear them, and so a quiet zone within my classrooms would of been very beneficial. I recall in elementary school my 4-6 grade teacher had a section of the classroom that consisted of pillows, couches, and bean bag chairs where we would do our reading and our spelling tests. It was very comfortable, and moving to a new place in the room gave us a fresh experience and some fresh air. Yet, that classroom was giant and I will probably not have the opportunity to have a whole section of my room for a comfortable living space.Chapter 7 focuses a lot on how to use the six facets within the classroom to make sure that students truly understand the content. Understanding is a lot more than memorizing facts, it requires critical thought and the ability to pick it apart and see how it is relevant. In order to encourage this critical thinking we are encouraged to ask big and broad questions that have open endings, that way our students must consider other options and ideas in order to come to a conclusion. This will also cause them to compare it to what is happening in the world or what has happened in the past, as well as their own life.
In MI Theory and Curriculum Development’s Chapter 7, the main focus is on how the MI theory is and can be reflected within curriculum. Students feel like they are having fun if they are learning through their main intelligence, and so the student absorbs more and focuses more. This is very important because it seems we are too busy drilling them so that they can pass standardized tests and not so that they can master the content. Teachers are still too busy talking at students and not with them, and are too busy teaching them in a didactic way instead of a facilitative way, as a true MI teacher would.
Chapter 6 of MI focuses on how the MI theory is and can be reflected within the teaching strategies. This is quite obvious, since if a teacher supports the MI theory it will reflect in the way they teach their class. They will stray away from the typical teacher talk and lecture style and focus on innovative and creative ways to meet the learners needs. This chapter gives multiple examples of ways to cater to the needs of each intelligence, such as story telling for linguistic learners, calculations for logical-mathematical learners, visualization for the spatial learner, etc.
Sean Falasca
In these four chapters the topic of discussion is on multiple intelligences and how to apply them in the classroom strategically like what an MI teacher room would appear to be. Everyone has the ability to be good at all intelligences so a good teacher will teach all of the intelligences and not just to the ones that are the students strengths. Ironically enough, we used Inspiration in Dr. Overall’s class today and in chapter 5 of MI it uses webs as an example of an activity to use to better organize and brainstorm ones thoughts. Chapter 6 of MI discusses how a teacher can involve all facets of the MI Theory through many different examples. I think it is very important to teach all the intelligences. If a teacher just teaches to the strengths then I believe that would cripple a student in the long run. Having the ability to tap into all eight intelligences will greatly benefit all who are taught that way.
Chapter 6 of UbD/DI starts out well by making you analyze your class as a whole and ask four important questions. Who are the students I will teach? What matters most for students to learn here? How must I teach to ensure that each student will grow systemically toward attainment of the goal and moves beyond it when indicated? How will I know who is successful and who is not yet successful with particular goals (84)? I really like the last question because of the “yet” portion. It implies that a student can always be taught and to never give up. Sometimes you need to run through the questions until you can fix the problem. When you teach basic concepts, teach them in a meaningful and useful context so students don’t discard it as useless. Also, be clear of the “big ideas” and goals hey will have accomplished by the end of the unit. If they know what’s expected of them then they will be able to perform better. Although students must build meaning on their own to properly master material, sometimes as a noted cognitive scientist points out “ There are times, usually after people have first grappled with issues on their own, that “teaching by telling” might work extremely well” (86). Also, I like the idea presented by Mortimer Adler in his book The Paideia Proposal that three rolls teachers can play are direct instructor, facilitator, and coach.
Chapter 7 of UbD/DI introduces WHERETO as the big concept of the chapter. In schools there can be a lack of depth in content. I know when I was a student I often learned by memorizing facts for a test date. That is not a successful style of teaching. Students will forget within days, sometimes hours what the crammed into their heads just for a test or quiz. This acronym WHERETO stands for What, Why, Hook, Equip, Experiences, Rethink, Evaluation, Tailor, and Organize. It reveals content. Engage students in deep content and make it meaningful and useful to them while differentiating for those who need it. Also, make all the goals, expectations, and ideas very clear to students.
Garrett Hodgkins
The two chapters in MI focus on a MI teacher, as well as MI theory and teaching strategies that exhibit its use. It goes into what exactly a MI teacher’s classroom would look like, as well as some of the strategies that the MI teacher would use. It also discusses some different work-activites to make a classroom MI friendly as well as lesson plans that are MI friendly. It also talks about the importance of combining MI theory with thematic instruction. The book says “themes cut through traditional curricular boundaries, eave together subjects and skills that are found naturally in life and provide students with opportunities to use their multiple intelligences in practical ways” (67).In UBD and DI the two chapters focus on a differentiated curriculum as well as how to teach in an academically diverse classroom. Firstly, it talks about teaching students fundamentals and making sure they reach the “big ideas” of each unit. All of the content isn’t as important as them drawing the fundamentals and finding the big idea. The second chapter focuses once again on how to work with a diverse classroom, and different strategies that may be used to make that sort of classroom click. It talks of the importance of using essential questions, as well as giving examples in each multiple intelligence of what essential questions would be. It also discusses the importance of doing a sort of “anticipatory” style of planning. As in planning your lesson plans to the common trends of students you have seen in past classrooms in order to hopefully fit your new classroom to meet the needs of many students. This gets rid of some of the pressure to immediately know all of your students and their needs, as it may cover some of theirs already. Finally it goes into talking of the stage 3 WHERETO method. The WHERETO method is a series of questions that are designed to make the teacher think from the perspective of the learner, which is important because that should be the center of the lesson plan/
Through these chapters I have learned a few good strategies and ideas for lesson plans that I could use in my future classroom. Along with those, I have also learned how to phrase questions to appeal to students specific multiple intelligences, as well as the importance of making sure that each student gains an understanding for “the big idea” even if they cannot grasp all of the content in the unit. I particularly enjoyed a specific piece that compared teachers to musicians, it read “ that teacher is always aware of the melody - the curriculum goals- but finds many different ways to the melody” (89). A teacher needs to have different routes to reach the same goal, because not at all students can follow a singular path, some may need different tools than others. These are some of the ideas I would like to apply in my future ( hopefully universally designed and differentiated) classroom.
Kiera Timme
After reading chapters 6 & 7 of Understanding by Design, and chapters 5 & 6 of Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom, a common theme began to emerge: designing curriculum, and instructional strategies, that meet the needs of a diverse group of learners. All four chapters provide helpful advice for teachers on how to meet a variety learner needs.Chapter 6 of UbD emphasizes the need for teachers to be responsive to student needs, and to incorporate flexibility into their classroom as a means of supporting student success. While, chapter 7 of UbD, focuses on the need for educators to move beyond superficial learning and push for deeper understanding of content. The UbD authors suggest teachers make use of a set of guidelines “embedded in the acronym WHERETO” (Tomlinson & McTighe, p120) as an aid to help plan for learning. The W stands for what and why, for example: “How will I help learners know what they will be learning? Why this is worth learning?” (Tomlinson & McTighe, p121). The H stands for hook, for example: “How will I hook and engage learners?” (Tomlinson & McTighe, p122). The E stands for equip and experiences, the R stands for rethink, revision and refinement, the second E stands for evaluation, particularly student self-evaluation, the T stands for tailor, and finally, the O stands for organized, referring to the way the lesson or unit is organized to best serve the students and the content. The “WHERETO” acronym really appeals to my clipboard learning style. It is often easy to feel overwhelmed by the huge responsibilities of being a teacher (and a pre-service teacher), so having a strategic process that I can follow when designing a lesson or unit, is not only helpful, it is also calming.
Chapter 5 of MI provides helpful curriculum building strategies to enable teachers to expand their instructional techniques beyond the traditional “linguistic and logical” (Armstrong, p64) teaching approach. Armstrong suggests a “seven-step procedure” (Armstrong, p64) as a guide to help teachers design, and implement, a MI incorporated lesson. Chapter 6 of MI picks up where chapter 5 leaves off by describing a plethora of examples of instructional approaches for each of the eight multiple intelligences. While all the examples where helpful, it was the section about naturalistic intelligence that I found the most enlightening. Being born and raised in a city makes it difficult for me to relate to this intelligence. While I do enjoy the outdoors, this doesn’t provide the insights I need as a teacher that this particular section does. Before reading this the most I could have come up with would be to take the class outside while doing the lesson. The “Eco-study” suggestion stood out for me as I am doing my performance task on endangered species. I had not realized, until reading this, I would be engaging my naturalistic students. Knowing this really make me feel like I am making progress.
Tess Perry
Chapter 6 and 7 of the UbD/DI book and chapters 5 and 6 of the MI book provide examples, strategies, methods and materials for teaching to a classroom of diverse learners. MI theory should be included in the planning process and in the implementation of curriculum. The specific focus of each chapter is described below. As I have gained new knowledge of many teaching strategies, I will hopefully apply many into my future classroom.Chapter 6 of the UbD book combines both responsive teaching, observing, checking and reflecting on student’s progress and altering plans as needed and understanding by design. If the teacher plans with the knowledge that her classroom will be diverse differentiated instruction can be built into the lesson plans. Curriculum should compel students to make meaning and think deeper, they should learn the basics and look for real world application. Informing students of unit goals and the expectations to show mastery is a concept I plan on using in my classroom. I think that by clearly explaining expectations students will know what is coming and why I am teaching them certain aspects, I can relate content back to end goals, which will also help keep me accountable and focused.
To ensure student understanding in a classroom full of multiple intelligences focus on the essential questions, utilizing the 6 facets of understanding and using the WHERETO framework. Chapter 7 addresses this concept. WHERETO is an acronym for what are we learning? Why is it important? Hooking student’s interest and attention? Equipping students with necessary materials and what experiences will help demonstrate concepts? Students will need to rethink, revise and refine prior learning and their current projects. Students must use self-evaluation to reflect upon what they have learned. They teacher must tailor lessons to the diverse students. Staying organized to make the most of all experiences in the classroom. The WHERETO model will be useful in guiding lesson planning and implementation.
In order to meet the needs of all students in a classroom MI theory should be included in the thought process while developing the curriculum. Chapter 5 of the MI book provides an abundance of methods and materials that can be used to teach to all 8 intelligences. One point I found beneficial was to think of planning interdisciplinary themes. This would help connect different subjects, which is a reality in the real world. This would also help students find applications and make meaning from lessons.
Different teaching methods and strategies can be categorized into the different MIs. Implementing these strategies will help students develop other intelligences as well as engage them if they are more inclined towards one or a few MIs. Chapter 6 of the MI book provided 5 examples of instruction methods for each of the 8 MIs. This will be a valuable resource as I begin planning multiple lessons and am in need of fresh ideas. Making sure I plan lessons geared towards all MIs not just the few that I have a tendency towards, will improve my teaching skills and hopefully benefit all students in the classes.
Jon Delorme
Chapters 6, 7 (UbD/DI) Chapters 5, 6 (MI)
The key for all teachers, and the focus of Chapters 5 and 6 of Multiple Intelligences, is to “translate the material to be taught from one intelligence to another (64).” To do this a teacher must plan out how one concept can be transformed multiple times for the different students in their class. There are many ways, some traditional and some innovative, in awaking the areas of the brain that have been left dormant for so long. In Chapter 5 Thomas Armstrong lists many techniques and activities teachers can use to translate material from one intelligence to another. Chapter 6 expands on some of these to give the reader more specific examples.
Chapter 6 of Understanding by Design by Carol Ann Tomlinson and Jay McTighe focuses on how a teacher can be responsive to their students in a differentiated classroom. Just like a teacher must be responsive to children’s different learning styles, teachers must also know when to differentiate. Chapter 7 of UbD concerns how to uncover the content. It has become too true that school curriculum has become a mile wide but only an inch thick. This does not lead much opportunity for student contemplation and discussion, but rather just the memorizing facts. To get into the material more the chapter suggests implementing the WHERETO framework. This process is set in the order of What, Why, Hook, Equip, Experiences, Rethink, Evaluation, Tailor, and Organize.
The challenge for me as a teacher is to find creative ways to engage all eight intelligences in my classroom. The Social Studies naturally appeals a lot to linguistic learners due to the material. I have been wondering a lot lately how historical information could be presented to a logical-mathematical, musical, or naturalist person. Some ideas presented in the book that I really like are activities such as Pictionary (Spatial), charades (Bodily-Kinesthetic), and peer sharing (Interpersonal). For my three challenge areas I like nature walks (Naturalist), mood music (musical), and Socratic questioning (logical-mathematical). Socratic questioning is something I am already familiar with because it the philosophy of Supplemental Instruction and I use it often in my Statistics class.
One core belief about curriculum that I totally agree with is that “students need opportunities to learn the ‘basics’ and opportunities to apply them in meaningful ways (85).” This quote from Understanding by Design uses an analogy of a coach and players to drive home the point. Too many “sideline drills” and not enough playing the “real game” is a strategy made for failure. That is why I think a project-based unit is a great idea. It limits the amount of worksheet-type learning and makes students apply their knowledge to real life applications. This in turn makes the class more engaging and allows room to appeal to the different intelligences. Along with using the WHERETO model I know I can become a successful teacher and truly engage my students.
Kaitlyn Bowie
Chapter six in Understanding by Design focused on how teachers can integrate backward design and instructional decision making to has to have the foundations for differentiated learning already set, should their need arise. Teachers need to constantly be inclusive to all levels of knowledge in their classroom, and failure to do so will result in certain students being stuck in a separate curriculum of routine practice. Meanwhile, while everyone else in the class in moving forward, that one group of students stays in the same academic place and has no opportunity to build upon themselves. At the same time, a teacher does not need to specifically cater to every specific need a student might have. They only need to be willing to adapt themselves and their lessons accordingly. I can see myself designing lesson plans that are, in some ways, open ended and flexible for the sake of any necessary adaptation. I have no idea what my classroom will be like, and coming up with dozens of alternative lessons a day is simply ridiculous.Chapter seven focused deeper into the actual lesson, in talking about delving into content as opposed to just skimming over it. By skimming content you only encourage memorization that students will allow themselves to forget once they have left the class. These students do not actually understand the content, because there is no stimulation of deep thought or opinion that forces their brains to truly start understanding the topic. One of the best ways of stimulating understanding thinking is by presenting students will open-ended, thought provoking questions about the topic. By making personal connections and brainstorming thoughts about the topic, the students are not just being spoon-fed information they are digesting it. This is the kind of thought I would want to encourage in my classroom, because any level of understanding can be involved in a class or group discussion. No matter how much or how little a student might come into a subject with, the discussion allows them to pool thoughts and learn from one another before the lesson even begins.
Chapter five of Multiple Intelligences focuses on using MI theory in developing effective class curriculums and lessons. The benefit of MI theory in curriculums is that it encourages teachers to expand upon their methods in ways that will help to engage students and appeal to their strongest form of intelligence. Such practices can be as simple as teacher moving around the class as they teach to the lesson, to incorporating music and hands on projects. There is no one solution for implementing the MI theory, and that is perhaps its greatest strength. No matter the subject or grade level, it can be implicated for the benefit of the students. It makes me feel much more confident about implementing MI techniques in my classroom, because there is no set way I have to do it. I can be as creative as my classroom allows, so long as I am able to help my students.
Chapter six focused more on the specific ways in which a teacher could incorporate the different intelligences into their lessons with examples corresponds to each intelligence category. I will definitely be returning to this chapter in both short-term and long-term instances. These examples will prove very helpful with further designing for my lesson plans, and even after I have become an established teacher. After all, a good teacher is one who is continually mixing, changing, and adding things to their curriculum.
Molly Olsen
Chapter 6 of UbD discussed responsive teaching in academically diverse classrooms. A list of core beliefs about curriculum and diverse student populations stresses that students need opportunity to learn and apply the "basics" of a subject, they should consistently experience curricula that causes them to think at high levels and make meaning of information, students need to know and understand the learning goals of a unit or lesson, and students should be given a balance between student construction and teacher guidance. One of the final things this chapter stresses is to not repeat what we may have seen in past classrooms, just because your teacher from fifth grade did something, does not mean it was necessarily the "right" way to do it. We are more likely to repeat the making of less-flexible learning environments if we were taught in one. I'm lucky in that I've always been in pretty flexible learning environments, which I plan to mirror in my own classroom.Some of the most important points from UbD chapter 7 included a reminder that the "ladder" model is flawed. Just because you have a student who hasn't mastered the beginning parts of a concept doesn't mean that you shouldn't at least introduce them to, or even just let them know that of the existence of larger concepts. If a student is forever stuck in the remedial, easy, skimming surface projects and worksheets so they can master the opening information, they will never see just how interesting and complex a subject can be.
Another idea this chapter discussed was bringing up lots of questions to keep conversations about subjects going and interesting. It keeps kids thinking. This idea is at the roots of Socratic Seminars, which is a kind of instruction I would like to use with my students.
The 5th chapter of MI discussed multiple ways to bring MI into the classroom and cater to all intelligences. One of the things it talked about was that a good MI teacher will help students use all of their intelligences, not strictly the ones they're "best" at— the teacher accomplishes this by switching between intelligence-based instructions throughout the lesson by simply moving differently, writing on the board, playing a video, and having the students move or manipulate something with their own hands. It's all part of the same lesson, just different facets. I think MI can sound daunting, but if I look at it as just differentiating and not doing the same thing over and over again, then I think it will be easier for me to teach in this style in the future.
Chapter 6 of MI suggests that linguistic intelligence is the easiest intelligence to bring into the classroom, as it's always been such a staple in schools. Despite it being easiest, the chapter gives it the same four examples of use in the classroom as the other eight intelligences. The book points out when a program or project hits multiple intelligences as well. Though I think it may take a bit more time set aside for planning, I want to try to hit multiple intelligences with single activities whenever possible.
Amy Jones
In all 4 chapters the main idea the authors were trying to portray was different tools for teaching and doing it well. In chapter 6 of UbD/ DI the author has the idea that teacher play into three key roles that must incorporate in the classroom. According to Mortimer Adler, in his book The Paideia Proposal, teachers as take on the following roles:- Didactic actors or direct instructors
- Facilitators
- Coaches.
This is where I think that teaching is my calling; because I have also been a coach and been a “facilitator” for a program, but then again learning all about the multiple intelligences gets me nervous about me not being able to reach every student’s needs. WHERETO model was introduced and is designed to relate topics or “[pull] it all together.” This model also talks to us about the preparation and planning that is needed before teaching and how important that it for our major curriculum. Also in chapter 7of UbD/DI I learned about the importance of asking well-aimed, open-ended questions. Essential questions lead students to use what knowledge they know and their ability for logical processing to come to their own conclusions.In chapter 5 of Multiple Intelligences, it gave us an idea to write a lesson based upon the multiple intelligences. They gave a list of different methods teachers could use to teach the 8 different learning types. It was broad, yet specific enough to help any teacher target a lesson to one type of learner. In helping us with how to write a lesson plan, the authors gave the readers examples different tools you can use: one of them being webs; these help you plan activities. I liked the idea of the webs and feel like I could incorporate them into one of my lessons for the students to use; I feel like it would work really well with writing papers, brainstorming with the class and when studying for exams.
In Chapter 6 of Multiple Intelligences, the author gave in-depth ways of targeting the 8 different learning types(examples). The activities that really caught my attention were ones of bodily-kinesthetic learners because I wish some of my teachers would have done that for me so I would feel smarter. Also it gave me ideas to teach to learners that are not the same “intelligence” as me.
Caroline Murphy
All four chapters discuss ways to adapt teaching styles to suit the very diverse needs of students and to integrate Multiple Intelligence theory and differentiated instruction into the classroom. They give an optimistic picture of how multiple intelligences are being incorporated into modern classrooms, saying that much of the strategies we can use to embrace multiple intelligences in the classroom are already being done by good teachers. Good teachers know how to organically adapt their methods to suit the needs of their students and how to go beyond lectures and quantitative tests. Multiple Intelligence theory talks about taking this further and translating the same material into practical, hands-on methods that allow for engaged and meaningful learning for all students regardless of what their learning style might be. MI theory and differentiated instruction are about communication between the student and the teacher, as well as between the student and the classroom content. When one method of communication does not adequately reach the student, another method must be used to ensure that all students understand the fundamentals and essential questions of the curriculum. The books specify that MI theory and differentiated instruction are about substituting ineffective methods for more beneficial ones, instead of adding on unnecessary pedagogy that does not have practical purposes. As a whole, MI theory and differentiated instruction are about teachers being flexible with their methods and being open to adapting their instruction to allow students with many different learning styles the opportunity to learn from the same curriculum.
The information in these four chapters is all very relevant to my future as a teacher. I think one of my biggest challenges as a teacher will be adapting my instruction to suit the needs of all my students, because I have a tendency to stick with methods that are comfortable to me. I also get frustrated when those methods don’t work, and blame myself and think that I failed. But because I have a natural inclination towards orderly, linear lessons that are based in language and writing skills, I will need to work hard to make things that are just the opposite sometimes. English in particular is a subject that is easy to use the same static methods for, but that is even more reason for teachers to come up with new ways of teaching it. I like what the MI book had to say about teachers inherently doing a lot of the adapting necessary to make that theory work. That makes me feel like I really do have what it takes to be an effective teacher for different learning styles, and I think that kind of optimism is exactly what the education system needs. One of the books said that, in order for MI theory and differentiated instruction to work, teachers have to see themselves as capable of adapting and modifying their lessons, and having confidence in both their abilities as teachers and the capability of their students to perform to high standards. This positive approach to diversity in the classroom is exactly what needs to happen in order for education to progress.
Alison Hutchins
Chapter five of Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom focuses on utilizing your knowledge to bring as many multiple intelligences as possible into your lesson plans, as effectively as possible. Something that it definitely stressed was helping students develop all of their multiple intelligence abilities, not just there strengths. This will help them grow as learners, and switching back and forth to accommodate this will help you grow as an educator. A really good lesson that has the ability to reach any student is able to access any of the eight intelligences necessary, and allow the teacher to interchange them as needed. It also begins to talk about different ways that a teacher can create lessons and entire curriculums that will truly access and develop all of these skills. Chapter six of Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom dives more deeply into planning these lessons and curriculums, giving more specific ways to incorporate all of the learning styles.
Chapter 6 of Understanding By Design and Differentiated Instruction also draws upon the theme of teaching a classroom of diversified learners. It focuses a lot on teachers being aware of and responsive to the learning needs of their students, watching their progress closely throughout the unit. Also how important it is for educators to be flexible and do whatever they can to accommodate the learning needs of the entire class. Chapter 7 talked much more in depth about the actual learning of the students. It discusses how, regardless of the diversified learning styles, each student should be focused on one connecting essential question, or "big idea." Having this really guides a student's learning regardless of how they learn. It also talks about really getting students to understand the content, this has to happen as opposed to just skimming information if you want students to actually internalize the information, rather than just testing then immediately forgetting it.
All of this information is really interesting because it gives me some really valid answers to certain questions, some of which I was not aware that I had, but it also raises some anxieties. I worry about not being able to see when a student is in need academically (or otherwise, honestly), and missing my chance to really get them to understand material that may be giving them trouble, and could continue to do so in the future. The suggestions for avoiding that, particularly in Understanding By Design and Differentiated Instruction chapter seven, did help to stave off some of that worry, however. The Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom chapters were also really interesting, as it gave some great ways to incorporate all of the learning styles into the curriculum. I also loved that it talked about helping students develop their skills, instead of just helping them play to their strengths, because this is something that I would love to be able to successfully do in my classroom. All in all, I learned a lot in these chapters that I feel excited to try in my own classroom at some point to help students with any learning need to feel comfortable and confident in my classroom and with my content.
Frank Makuch
What I got out of these chapters is that it really may be impossible to force someone to learn something. The job of a teacher should not be to force someone to learn something. Teaching practices are only effective when they allow the student to do the work. And to let the student do the work, you have to make the student want to do the work. If a teacher just stands up and lectures all day, he really doesn’t know how his students are doing. Most of them probably won’t like the way that he teaches because he has chosen to do the same thing day after day. Even if the student likes learning from lecture, she probably won’t like it after so much repetition. Therefore differentiation is not only important for reaching students with multiple intelligences, it is also important in teaching students who may have the same intelligence. In addition, the chapters offered lots of practical advice for teachers trying to differentiate instruction. MI chapter 6 offers different strategies for dealing with different intelligences. Some of these seem practical and relatable to all topics but others are not. Among these are the strategies for musical or naturalist intelligences. I could not see myself implementing most of these strategies because they are just too far out there. Also, I feel that a nature walk may be calming for some, but it could have an opposite effect on other students. The same goes for music. Personally, I enjoy music very much, but when I’m working, the music is too distracting. For people with poor multitasking skills like mine, music easily becomes a distraction. I think that if we as teachers are trying to promote learning, some of these strategies might be counterproductive. Another interesting point in UBD chapter 7 was about teaching through essential questions. The point here is to allow the student to find out for himself what he believes. This way, he is more likely to remember what he learned because as far as he knows, he’s the one that figured it out! Another idea was the metaphor of the ladder for learning. The authors believe this to be a flawed metaphor. They believe that learning does not have to be a linear process, and does not have to be the same process for everyone. A student may be able to learn more complex curriculum even if he has not learned the fundamentals. For example, a student who cannot read or write may still be extremely smart when it comes to logic problems. Students who do not have some skills can still understand big picture things. As a teacher I will try to cater towards as many intelligences that I can, but will stop when I feel that my teaching has been compromised. I will know when or if my teaching has been compromised by using formative assessments. Students should have knowledge uncovered for them, and they should decide how to piece it together. This is how the most learning will happen.